JLU: The Continued Series
by LadyRasafras
Summary: Current Arc: Teacher's Pet. "Now, now, now, it's not polite to aim crossbows at people Huntress. Or should I say Miss. Bertinelli? Some problems you can't shoot away." VX/GL/HG, CW/BM/WW, H/Q, SM/LL, BC/GA, F/LP, V/OC, and more! Rating may change.
1. Soul Society Arc Part 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Justice League's ideas or characters, they belong to the various writer and artists. I also do not own any of the modern references I use. However, I do own the Soul Society, who are based on my heroes on City Of Heroes, I do not own COH.

**LadyR: **Hey y'all, I'm rewriting my old JLU story, because I can, the story will not be edited on my previous account and any updates will solely be made through LadyRasafras. I will be making many references to events in the comics, so it's kinda me combing the cartoon and comics, or at least recreating them in the cartoon. Woooo.

I use OCs, but don't worry all you purists; they're not the center of this. This is just the first 'episode'.

Reviews, comments, and criticisms are totally welcome. Unless the criticisms are unfounded, flaming, and don't help me at all.

**LadyR (From the original chapter 2): **For any that read my story before, I changed my character's name from Trinity to Lady Nether and enhanced her secret identity a bit. I'm getting some pretty good ideas on some of the future 'episodes' of JLU Continued. For example Catwoman meets Wonder Woman, Batman love triangle! (:D) Probably a story involving Question and Huntress, probably another to resolve the Shayera John issue. Stuff with Teen Titans. Random invasions of doom? Multi-universe stuff!

Anyway, don't like where the comics have been going so I'm still completely following the animated universe (even if I can't stand Terry) and will just recreate events I liked with my own twists.

Reviews, comments, and criticisms are totally welcome. Unless the criticisms are unfounded, flaming, and don't help me at all.

THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PINNACLE OF LITERATURE.

* * *

"There are many individuals across the world that are in possession of so-called 'super powers', whether by magic, technology, science or even the occasional extraterrestrial, these people call themselves superheroes. These 'superheroes' are banded together into the Justice League, although this . . . Justice League has helped Earth many a time, it is still not seen if they are truly for the good of our planet."

The commentary continued as the TV it was coming from fluttered at the front of the grocery store. A slim woman watched the news report as a cashier bagged her groceries, consisting of rather healthy food with an odd amount of junk food among it. "Here you go Ma'am."

"Thank you." The woman mused as she took the bags and headed towards the door, shaking her head as she thought of the stupidity of the media. To her it was ridiculous. Then the space around her seemed to shift and glitter, a bright light surrounded her body and she heard a sound she didn't recognize it yet, "What the fu-"

(Cool Transition)

"We've got a problem…" The African American superhero stated, walking down the hallways. Metal surrounded him at every side as well as dozens of heroes, nearly everyone was in the League at this point, sometimes it gave him hope, and sometimes it made him worry about the power that they held.

"So what else is new," Wally West aka The Flash asked cheerfully in his usual tone, only to get green eyes narrowed at him as John Stewart aka The Green Lantern glared at him. So maybe joking at this point was not a good idea, but in all reality, there was never a time when the world wasn't going to end or some superbad had a new plot.

"I'm serious. Superman and Batman are talking in the other room, there's going to be a mecha invasion, soon." John _was_ using his serious voice, but he always used his serious voice, he was such a serious guy, much the opposite to-

"Robots? I love smashing robots!" Wally said in an excited, almost childlike, tone. Only to get a big green baseball glove over his face. Oh, the joy of being buddies with the Green Lantern.

"Shh! You idiot, we're not talking big about it, and we're definitely not letting the public know. So listen carefully. Now the bots are fueled by magic so…"

Green Lantern continued to talk as Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne talked in the conference room created for the original founders. The ones who saved the world at least a dozen times, and made the world safer by uniting all heroes, not that they weren't under constant fire about it. "I'm not sure this is a good idea Clark," Bruce Wayne, The Batman, stated in his usual dark and suspicious voice.

"Look, Bruce," Clark Kent, Superman, started, "If we do this then we'll not only have a good opposing force that won't alarm the rest, but we'll finally talk to them about joining the League." Blue eyes looking out the clear window at the league, it was an almost fatherly look underlined with worry that stared at his comrades and he crossed his arms.

"I still don't like it, they're not like us." Bruce mused, fully aware of the irony of what he was saying. Though he knew this was a losing argument, usually Clark was diplomatic, but sometimes he was just as stubborn as any human.

"I trust their leader, and thus them all, with my life," Another male voice mused, a slightly mystic edge to it. The man was behind them, almost hidden by the shadows, and all of them were aware of the power of that statement.

Clark and Bruce both turned to Doctor Fate. "If Fate trusts them I trust them," Clark made as his final statement on the matter.

Bruce simply shifted, wrapping his cape around him, his version of sulking that he lost the argument. "Whatever."

(Cool Transition)

"Well, ho~~~wdy, looks like we got ourselves some new recruits." Greg Saunders aka Vigilante stated to the knight he was both sitting and playing cards with. Vigilante was also winning. With a roll of his eyes and a frown at his cards Justin Arthur aka Shining Knight also looked over the room to observe the unfamiliar heroes.

"Wouldn't be sure about that if I were you," Ollie Queen aka Green Arrow said as he sat down with them, pausing to look at Justin's cards. "Fold. Those over there are the Soul Society."

Greg raised an eyebrow, pushing back his hat with his thumb. "Soul Society? Is that just a really bad pun or somethin'?" It did sound a little funny, Soul Society, Sole Society; Wally had even snickered a bit.

"No, it's the name of their little group, I hear they use to travel dimensions until they could find one where this sorceress chick wouldn't come and try and kill them, they usually don't involves themselves with fighting unless it's in their own little town, and when they're here, I worry." Superheroes were human (mostly) too; they tend to gossip just as much as the rest of them. They especially like to gossip about other heroes.

But of course, Sir Justin would not lower himself to such immorality. Crossing his arms, "So who are these fighters for justice?"

Ollie grinned as he adjusted in his seat, thrilled that he got to show off the information he had got from Black Canary, who had gotten it from Oracle, who in turn got it from the Bat himself, well more like his detailed files about just about everyone known to man. "The tall, Asian one is Miss. Yang, a Japanese katana and martial arts master, I hear she could give you a run for your money," Ollie smirked as Shining Knight coughed at that challenging statement, "And there are rumors she's from way ancient Japan, like shoguns and stuff." Miss. Yang was dressed in a rather modern adaption of Japanese robes and her gray hair was clipped into a messy bun with chopsticks. Gray eyes stared straight ahead with a cold energy glittering behind them; a rather un-Asian gypsy-like veil covered her lower face. "The really short, blond kid is Techno Wiz; in short he's just your average genius." Techno Wiz was wearing some regular civilian's clothes with bulges under them, probably technological stuff. There were also weird mechanical goggles covering the top of his head, spiky blonder hair stuck out around it and warm brown eyes darted around the room in excitement, he was clearly full of energy. "Now the blue skinned woman is Unknown Glory, she's another alien and has claws that can go straight through titanium," The tight sky-blue suit she was wearing seemed to blend in with her almost aquamarine skin, a slim face was framed with short, dark blue hair and gold eyes that glowed like a wild animal. "Now the other guy is Clairvoyance, he's just another telekinetic mind reader magic guy," There was a familiar indifference on the man's face, the sort of indifferent mask most with his powers gave off, he, too, was wearing civilian clothes (though covered with paint stains) with a baseball hat covering straight brown hair, green eyes glanced over at them and narrowed as the expression turned to a frown.

Greg just waved, and Clairvoyance looked away, "And the other woman?" Motioning a hand to the woman in back, urging them ahead, she was wearing a black trench coat over a band t-shirt and jeans. Long, brown hair was pulled into a pony-tail and big, obnoxious sunglasses covered most of her face. A few plastic bags hung at her side, cereal, vegetables and other food items poked out from the bags.

"That's Lady Nether, she's their leader the way I hear it, and she has power over the dark."

"Dark as in shadow powers, like a dark Starfire or something?" Greg asked, putting his feet on the table and earning a glare from Justin.

"Starfire's an alien," Justin corrected sounded bored, "This woman seems to be a magic user."

"I hear it's like netherworld energy. It's assumed she was in some sort of magic ritual that attached the energy to her."

"Ooo creepy- wait, where the heck d'you hear all this from? No way gossip has this much information." Greg leaned forward, resting his arms against the table.

"I have sources, and a close friendship to one of the best hackers in the US." Ollie said, sounding arrogant and annoying.

"He asked me to have Oracle pull up Batman's files on them," Dinah, Black Canary, stated as she walked by, giving Ollie a look. Ollie got up and was going to follow her, but she gave him another look and a frown.

"Ok, ok, I bow to your powers of persuasion. I'll see you tonight!" He yelled loud enough that a few other tables looked over and made noises, laughs, howls, the such. Dinah simply blushed, made a threatening motion at him and quickly stomped off.

"Figures the Bat would have that much information on them; I wonder what he has on me."

Justin frowned, looking at their attire. Considering it was all almost all civilian's clothing he was a little suspicious. "Looks like they didn't come very prepared."

"I wonder what'd draw their entire team to our homey little space station."

Green Arrow saw, out of the corner of his eye, Flash and GL both answer their com links at the same time then walk off towards the conference room. "No kidding…"

(Cool Transition)

"Everyone this is the Soul Society," Clark said in his usual kind voice, Wally snickered (again) behind John at their name. "We've recently been aware of a threat in Europe of an unknown source of magic powered robots… and because of certain political problems at this point, and a few people do not want many of the Leaguers involved; we needed to look for outside help. Which is why they are here-"

"We've been trying to contact your group for quite a while," J'onn aka Martian Manhunter stated, facing their team, some might take it as animosity; most didn't knowing it was just how the alien was.

"We didn't _want_ you to contact us," Miss. Yang said with a heavy Japanese accent, her eyes glaring daggers at them all.

"It's a silent pact we've made with you," Lady Nether started, a scowl on her face as she crossed her arms, to be honest, aside from this she hadn't seemed like the leader. "You don't bother us, we don't bother you. I thought we had an understanding, a peaceful one, and then you transport us here, _without_ asking us. Now you're 'asking' us for our help, perhaps the rumors of you being power hungry dictators are true." Lady Nether, also, spoke with an accent, one that Batman was picking his brain trying to put his finger on.

"Yes, we would like your help," Clark was trying to be diplomatic and good-natured, it was easy for his friends to see, but they had done something rather stupid. "Almost as much as we'd like you to join the league."

"No," Unknown Glory abruptly said with an untraceable accent as well, which was common for most aliens. "How many times must we say this to you?"

"Don't be rude Glory, they brought us here with all this _wonderful_ machinery," Techno Wiz said, looking like he wanted to take everything apart.

"Bobby, just don't touch anything," Clairvoyance snapped as he glared over the electronic enthusiast at the founders.

Techno Wiz, now known as Bobby, gave a dramatic gasp, "You gave away my secret identity! How . . . how could you _Josh_."

"Oh, please, they probably already know our names, why deny it ….don't you?" Josh crossed his arms and looked pointedly at Batman.

"…" The question was met with silence as some of them looked at each other.

"Yes we do," Bruce said coldly, glaring back at Joshua Rayne, telepaths bothered him somewhat.

"The feelings mutual," Josh stated, raised an eyebrow as he gave Batman a sneer, brave, brave man he was.

"If we're not hiding it anymore, then, OhmygodIloveyourbookssomuch," Wally said in five seconds as he was already next to Lady Nether shaking her hand faster than the speed of light.

"Um, thank you?" Lady Nether managed to cough out as her arm moved faster than most airplanes.

"Wally let her go, you might break her." Shayera ordered in a bored tone, crossing her arms and focusing on a wall, like she did a lot these days.

"But Faith Cathleen books are some of the best selling urban-fantasy romance novels on the shelf for the last three years!" A childlike frown ( D: ) was on his face as he let go of the women, who instantly began to rub her arm, and raised an eyebrow at Miss. Yang whom simply snorted.

"Did he just say urban-fantasy _romance_?" John asked, glancing at his teammates.

"He sure did." They all smirked at the Flash, who was very quickly humiliating himself.

Josh sighed, raising his arms slightly as he put his hands in a questioning motion. "Isn't there a big bad invasion going on that we're supposed to help with?"

"Yes, there is, now we can't send any of the founders cause then the league will be in to their necks but we can send some of the other members…"

"Don't think we can handle it?"

"That's not it…"

(Cool Transition)

The announcer crackled as it turned on and announced, "Would Vigilante, Shining Knight, and Green Arrow report to Javelin Bay Three."

The three, still at the table, now gossiping about The Question and Huntress, looked up and got a few comments from some of the other heroes. "Ooo, hey, somethin' to do, well let's hop to it."

The three quickly made it to the bay, Ollie grabbing his bow and such before they entered. Walking in to see Superman, Green Lantern and the Soul Society they had such fun gossiping about.

This is when Ollie shifts awkwardly and moves a few feet to hide behind the other two.

"Ok, to make a long story short, we need non members to help, big problem in Europe, magic robots, this is the Soul Society. SS, this is Vigilante, Shining Knight, and Green Arrow. Guys, this is Lady Nether, Miss. Yang, Techno Wiz, Clairvoyance, and Unknown Glory. Now there's information on the mission in the Javelin, so go!" Green Lantern could talk fast when he wanted to, and he still sounded like a General. Superman waved at them, wishing them luck.

It didn't take long for them to get all their equipment onto the Javelin. "One of you can fly this thing, right?" It was more of an ice-breaker then an actual demand, Lady Nether didn't think the League was quite _that_ stupid.

"Yes ma'am," Vigilante replied taking his seat at the controls, pushing his hat back a bit as he did so. Making a few checks before starting the engine, Greg grinned under his mask at the lights blinking; boy he loved flying this big hunk of metal.

The SS members sat down silently and quietly talked amongst themselves, the previous ice-breaker hadn't caused much talking, so they seemed happy enough to keep conversations between the Leaguers down. They shifted slightly as the Javelin took off from the Watchtower. Shining Knight looked over at Miss. Yang from his seat, "So you are a blade wielder?"

Miss. Yang opened an eye long enough to look uninterested before closing her eyes again "Yes." For most that would have made the conversation stop and the other person go 'what a b'.

Justin wasn't that smart. "Where is your sword?" It was back with his Arthurian honor, warriors don't leave their swords behind.

Miss. Yang sighed before she replied, "Matsudai is not a normal katana, she is a spiritual weapon that transcends time and does not need to be held physically at my side to be drawn."

The three Leaguers just kind of blink, glanced at her and stared, except Greg who went back to flying. "I think us Justice Members all want to know…. huh?"

"Kin," Faith said, the single word seemed to make the Japanese women shift and roll her eyes, whether it was a request or a scolding was undetectable in her tone.

"Yes, yes," Looking at Justin directly, "I shall show you," Miss. Yang, now known to be Kin, raised her hand, there was a dull flash of light and a katana was lightly in her grasp. It was a beautiful blade, adorned with purple, blue and green designs on its hilt and sheath.

Once again, silence was the only thing escaping from the Leaguers. Awkward. Then the Javelin jumped a bit and Greg remembered he had to fly it.

Kin smirked at Justin's expression, and it soon disappeared less elaborately. The silence was broken by Bobby, "What a great transportation machine," Bobby stated as he looked over its design, running his hands across the hull, a rather intimate smile on his face.

"No, don't even think about it Bobby," Josh snapped, clearly the least happy of the lot, everything he said sounded angry.

Bobby made a single motion of irritation, "Josh, you stay of out my mind, what if I dumped all your dirty little magazines out in the open?"

"This is going to be a long mission," Oliver said to himself stretching in his chair, the belt pulling against his green uniform as he tried to get comfortable.

Lady Nether spared him a soft smile, "You have no idea."

"So, as long as we're all in this together what say we get to know each other?" Bobby asked cheerfully as he plopped down in one of the empty seats, not bothering to buckle up.

"Robert!" Unknown Glory snapped, glaring at him, she was a personal person and didn't like the human need to know each other.

"I'm just saying, look Narsesis, we use each other's names constantly, when I'm in the middle of battle I won't have the time or think quick enough to yell 'Green Sparrow', so why not know each other's names, especially if we're going to join their League."

"That's Green _Arrow_."

"Faith?" The SS looked over at their leader, it was her word now and they wouldn't question it.

"Kid's got a point," Greg started, really wanting the tension to end because he didn't have the self-control to only concentrate on flying while arguments went on behind him, his attention span wasn't that good. "Well then, Greg's the name, nice to meet y'all and I say we still got ourselves a nice 25 minute trip going for us."

Faith simply sighed and gave a small nod of her head as she gave the ok for the idea. "Alright then, I'm Faith, that's Bobby, Josh, Kin, and Narsesis." The alien, Narsesis, did not seem to be pleased with the situation.

"Call me Ollie." Arrow said yawning; he wasn't the type of sink into tension or private battles.

"Humph, I am Sir Justin, not that it matters now."

"Aw, don't be a party pooper Knight," Greg laughed from the front.

"I'm not pooping any party Vig nor do I think of this as a party…"

A few laughs floated through the air, leave it to the socially inapt one to lighten the mood a bit.

"You know, the League's been trying to get you guys to join for quite a while, seems to be causing a few problems for the big shots," Ollie stated, glancing at them one by one, it's not like he cared, he remember when they tried to get him to join as well, they liked having everyone in one box.

"Oh, please, the biggest shot flies around in blue and red spandex, we're the least of his worries," Faith snorted and glanced out one of the small windows at the sky, the light reflecting off her sunglasses.

"Now, that ain't nice, quite a few fly folks around in stranger suits." Greg mused, though spandex wasn't his thing. Not that he didn't approve, he definitely liked Donna Troy's little black number.

"Speaking of which, you don't seem very prepared considering your garments." Justin stated, looking at the outfits.

Another sigh emerged, "Look aside from Kin carrying her veil with her everywhere and Bobby with his equipment, we got nothing. I was grocery shopping (cause no one else does it you jerks)," That one was followed with a glare at the men, "Josh was fixing the roof, UG was at the base (that's why she's dressed), Kin was at her dojo and Bobby was doing god knows what he does in his free time. How the hell were we supposed to know the next minute we'd be transported to the JL headquarters?"

"Did the same to me…..at least I was prepared that time though," Ollie said smirking. Though it hadn't been that bad and he didn't mind anymore, if it was Dinah doing the kidnapping that is.

"Oh, shut up, Robin Hood," Kin snapped watching Bobby get up from his seat and head to the back, probably to check out all the designs or whatever he does.

"Robin Hood…why is it always Robin Hood? I AM NOT FRICKIN' ROBIN HOOD!"

"You do dress like him," Justin pointed out with a shrug. "And you use a bow and arrows."

"It's the hat." Faith mused, looking at his outfit up and down.

"GYYAAAAAAHHHHHHH! THERE'S A HORSE BACK HERE!" Bobby yelled, panicked.

"Ah yes my steed."

"DUDE, IT HAS _WINGS_!"

"What are you reading?" Narsesis asked Faith, the both of them ignoring the yelling between heroes.

"The mission description.." She replied reading over the data pad, pressing some buttons to scroll down. "Looks like a lot of people want this quiet. So we'll have to find the base first, find out whatever information we can about them and if they're a part of an organization or if this is just a onetime situation. They probably have these magic robots as guards. So, of course, more fights then we're most likely want, so I recommend two groups of four, Josh, Shining Knight, Vigilante and me on one team and Bobby, Kin, Ollie and Narsesis the other one. Now we're the more obvious melee group on this end so we'll take the higher risk areas, you guys go after the controls and information."

"I don't recall anyone making you the leader here."

"I don't recall anyone making anyone leader here, I'm at least making a plan of action. So if you have a problem with that cowboy, let's see you make a better plan."

Ollie whistled, "The girl's got some fire."

"No ma'am, I don't have a better plan, so go ahead with your's, and I sure hope it works 'cause we're about to arrive at the destination."

(Cool Transition)

A majority of the riders approached the front of the javelin, looking out to see what sort of area they were about to land in. "So how are we going to land this obnoxious heap of metal without being seen?" Kin asked first as she looked out at the, though large, rather normal looking base.

"Like this," Greg pressed a few buttons and the Javelin went into its stealth mode. To the outside world the javelin flickered and blended in with the scenery around it.

Running a hand across the metal walls Bobby whistled with a doggish grin, "Wow the government would be thrilled about this."

"Eh, what the government doesn't know won't hurt them." Greg mused as he pressed commands into the controls, preparing to land.

Faith leaned towards the command, looking over the grid map of the surrounding areas. Short nails tapped on the grid, pointing at the area. "Land those woods over there."

Greg just looked annoyed, this reminded him a little too much of Hawkgirl's habit of ordering him about. Vixen too, and Canary, and Wonder Woman, and the list goes on. "Well, lookie here we got ourselves another backseat driver."

"Just land." Rolling his eyes at the cool look she gave him in response, he vaguely mused to himself how there were very few demure female superheroes. A majority of them could kick his ass, the rest acted like they could. What happened to sugar, and spice, and everything nice?

With a sign Faith felt the slight bump as the javelin landed as smoothly as Greg could manage. She glanced at her team, then at herself, rather annoyed that very few of them had their equipment. It was weird seeing Josh without his staff, affectionately named Nadine, at his side. They caught each other's eyes and he grinned at her, saying with his hands he was thinking the same thing. Scratching her neck as she said something in another language and a black circle appeared around her feet and black energy crackled around her. Soon it surrounded the woman and her street clothes disappeared, revealing that the brown hair was just a wig and that underneath it was full black hair. Black pants and tube top formed her costume, they were made of an unknown material but it did shimmer nicely when you looked at it in certain directions. A simple eye mask covered the top of her face and she leaned over to adjust her boots. "Ok let's go."

Josh nodded and clapped his hands together, there was a shift in the air as though he split something and a quick flash of light blinked in the javelin. A deep purple cowl surrounded him completely; his face deep in shadows that only the glow from his now white eyes could now be seen.

The team unstrapped themselves and quickly left the javelin. Once they were outside Faith turned to face them all. "Now then, if the data is right it's a mile up north, so let's split up and go."

(Cool Transition)

Quietly Faith, Josh, Shining Knight, and Vigilante went in one direction. The one in which they didn't bother hiding themselves. "Now, look here Missy," Faith's eye twitched at this new name that she did not appreciate. "This is a pretty basic mission, so why we splitting up like this?" Once again Greg found himself being left out of the loop. No one ever told him any of the big plans and it was beginning to irritate him. Sir Justin glanced over at him, then at Faith.

Stopping Lady Nether turned and glared at the Vigilante, though even with her mask on he was pretty sure she was glaring at his hat and not his face. "Ok, you back talking western. Because you see this is a _base _and bases have these things called like guards. Now any way we do this….We are going to be seen, King Arthur and Robin Hood would probably make sure of that." Sir Justin looked like he was going to snap for a moment but ignored her and was probably counting to five in his head. "Now if we go in one big group then there is a chance they are going to get to the data and destroy it before we can get to it. Now if we split up and our group can cause a commotion on one end then they won't think there's another group, so then they can get to the data before it's destroyed. Now did you get that or do I need to odd a southern drawl?"

"Faith, leave the poor cowboy alone and you said now about four times in a row, we have work to do." Josh said and grabbed Faith's arm hard enough that she would look at him. "We don't need to waste time arguing."

"Hmmpf. Dang dictator chick, I ain't got no reason to listen to you." Greg muttered under his breath.

"Double negative."

Greg halted, giving Faith a weird look. "Beg pardon?"

"You used a double negative," Faith stated, giving Greg a rather casual look. "You actually said you don't have a reason to not listen to me."

The weird look shifted from Faith to Josh, or at least towards Josh, couldn't see him at all with his cloak covering him completely anyway. "She's an author." They just kept walking towards the base, it still seemed normal but as they got closer the ground looked faker. "Hey Faith if we're the offensive then why the knight and not Narsesis?" Josh asked as they ducked behind some trees, sensing that there was some sort of camera nearby, they'd stay there until they got the signal from the other team.

"Because then two sword users would be in that group, too similar styles. Besides, you know Kin doesn't play well with others."

"Well, she seems to have things well in hand," Justin stated more to himself then to Greg as he intended,

All he got from the cowboy was a snort, "You can call it what you like. But I call it the attitude of a dictator."

(Cool Transition)

A guard paused for a minute to brush something off his pants. He was completely unaware of the arrow that was pointed at his head, an arrow that would knock him out and cause a few painful repercussions later. A hand rested on the long, green bow and moved it down with a smooth push. Oliver gave the Asian woman an irritated glare from behind his mask. "Look, I got a clear shot of that guy. Why not hit him and strip him of any information or codes?" With that statement Ollie glanced back around the corner of the dull hallway to make sure the guard wasn't heading in their direction before returning to his 'I'm right and you're not so let me do my job' glare.

Kin stared back at him evenly, thin lips pressed into a line from behind her veil. "That would be because our group is the incognito one. We don't want them to know about us till we're already gone. And if you hit that guy they'd realize he was gone before we're done."

The guard casually went back on his patrol, blissfully oblivious of any of the danger he had previously been in. The guard was one of the few that wouldn't be suffering from a severe headache later on in the day.

Ollie slipped the arrow back into his quiver, a rather obvious frown of dissatisfaction on his face. "Sheesh, hey, Bobby are all the girl's in your little Society as bossy as they seem?" At first he had been amused that the leader was irritating Vigilante and that Miss. Yang offended something in Shining Knight's eccentric rules of conduct. Now that he had to deal with it, he wasn't as amused. He already had Dinah deeply rooted in his life, like he needed anymore tough females kicking him around.

After opening one of the wall's panels, finding one of their main access panels and pulling out some of the wires with the ease of skill Bobby pulled back his sleeve to reveal a rather mechanical looking arm. Opening a panel on his arm Bobby shot Ollie a sad look, "Oh. You have no idea," Twisting the wires into his arm so that the two panels were connected. "Just try living with them…." Fingers moved quickly as he tapped the keys on his arm and then a few commands into one of the wall's control units. "It's always: Bobby get me that power cufflink, Bobby get my whet stone, Bobby make sure to iron your shirt, Bobby-"

Narsesis made a sharp movement with her hand before interrupting him verbally. "Robert, stop whining, hack more."

The blond simply rolled his eyes but focused when the screen on the wall flashed 'Access Denied' at his face. A grin crossed his face as amusement flickered in his eyes before he once again tapped at his arm. "Heh, and we've run into a fire wall folks. Let's see if it can stand up to Sonic."

Oliver blinked, a vision of a blue hedgehog that collected rings and rolled really fast echoed in his mind. The blue hedgehog that The Question told him was actually part of a Japanese subdivision that's currently trying to reprogram the youth of American by the means of gaming so that when they're mature they'd turn against our government when the Japanese decide to take over America. Ollie needed new friends. "Sonic?" The kid couldn't actually be talking about Sonic the-

"Yeah, you know, Sonic the Hedgehog." As Ollie stared at Bobby the infamous blue hedgehog appeared on the computer's screen and starting doing his fast rolling across it. Taking down block's of the computer's background and with equal efficiency, the firewall. "Hah! And the code is cracked let's see you do that with claws!"

Kin touched the black earring that responded with a hushed beep. "Hey, Faith we're ready."

(Cool Transition)

A beep sounded from the familiar looking black earring in Faith's ear, she pressed it and was silent as she listened to her teammate. "They're ready. Now we just need to cause a disturbance." Poking Josh in the shoulder, "Josh, where's the camera?"

Josh stared at her blankly for a moment before he responded. "To the north, roughly twenty two feet."

That sharp finger then jabbed Vigilante in the side. "Ok, cowboy, can you see the camera?"

Making a sound of discomfort before glancing beyond their hiding point, it took a few seconds for him to spot the glittery, black machinery. "Yeah, yeah."

"Shoot it."

"You didn't say please-" Another jab to the side. "Alright, alright." Pulling out his revolvers as he spared her a glare. A couple of shots went off and the camera was down. Before he got a chance to brag alarms quickly went off. "Well that was dang quick."

A computerized female voice repeated, "Intruder alert, intruder alert," after a few seconds the voice droned on and on, just repeating the alert. Then the ground shifted aside like metal and automated guns rose up, aimed at them. A loud marching sound quickly got louder and louder until they saw robots with glowing cores came at them in herds along with a few guard soldiers. Sir Justin drew his sword and you could almost see the relief on his face that he finally got to fight something.

Spinning the revolvers around his fingers, "Well, let's go then."

Faith outstretched her pointer and middle finger, saying a few more words in the other language and shadows floated around her hand forming a whip made of black energy. "Go for the core, if it's magic then that's where the center of their energy is."

One of the guards dropped his rifle with a cry as his hand got shot. "Sure thing!"

(Cool Transition)

"Come on! Hurry up!" Kin hissed as they ran silently down the hallways.

Bobby a few feet behind him Ollie chased after the two, much faster, women. "Okay! Okay! Coming!" Narsesis grabbed him and Kin grabbed Bobby, yanking them down one of the turns. They stood straight against the wall as guards rushed by them, saying something about intruders and hurry. "You think maybe that large metal door is where are the data is?" Ollie mused as he looked at the rather impressive large metal door.

Robert simply shrugged. "Sure why not." Walking up to the door he looked for some sort of computer panel. After a few failed seconds he looked at Narsesis with a pouting expression. "Oh, great, a _real _lock, I can't hack this one, Narsesis?"

She gave her version of an awkward smile, "Allow me," Narsesis stretched her hand out and her claws got longer. In a simple motion she swiped out across the lock and it split apart, metal scrapings fell to the ground.

Kin walked over and with a grunt pulled the door open, she motioned for them to follow her. "This looks right." Large computers lined the walls, a few odd looking artifacts but Bobby went straight for the information, swiftly hacking into the terminal.

"Odd," Bobby mused as he rapidly typed commands into the computer, hooking it up with his own system.

"What?" Ollie asked sharply, keeping an eye out by the door, his bow drawn and ready for anything.

"It seems like its missing information, a lot of it," A loading bar appeared on the screen as he started to transfer the files.

(Cool Transition)

Ducking as a robot flew over her head, another beep sounded and Faith touched her communicator, "Yeah, ok." Wrapping her nether whip around the neck of one of the guards and flinging him into a nearby robot. Flipping the whip back as she twisted it around her fist transferring the nether energy and she slammed her fist into another one of the robots, shattering its core. Withdrawing as it fell apart she backed up into a circle with the other heroes. "They got all the data they could grab; they want to meet us at the javelin."

Justin blocked one of the robot's arms with his sword, "Right, but . . . . How do we get away?"

Faith glanced around at the many enemies surrounding them. Then her gaze reached her teammates. "Josh? Cover would be nice…"

The hero stared back at her and then nodded. "Your wish is my command; I recommend the rest of you duck and cover your ears." The two heroes unfamiliar with Josh blinked and quickly did as he said, Faith just tensed as she prepared for the same. Josh clapped his hands together and the sonic energy mixed with the natural electric current in the air travelled in sound waves hit all the guards.

"Let's go," They quickly maneuvered around and over their enemies, leaving them behind as they headed towards where the javelin was.

"Hey Josh, how'd yah do that?" Greg asked as he ran next to the psychic, curious about the not telepathic skill.

Green eyes momentarily glanced at him. "I can control weather patterns as well as telepathy. I wasn't hiding it and Oracle apparently didn't tell the Black Canary everything."

"Didn't your Momma ever tell you reading minds is rude?" Greg muttered as the glint of the javelin came into view. The heroes quickly boarded it; Bobby was already prepping it for launch.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Bobby asked only to be shooed away from the controls by Greg who took his seat and the shuttle door shut. The javelin shifted and squeaked as it took off.

"It was….a good exercise." Josh mused as he glanced around the javelin, distracted. Something didn't feel right to him about the surrounding air, something was off.

"Let me see the data," Faith ordered and Bobby handed her the printed out version of all the information they gathered. Judging from the crease in her forehead she noticed the hole of information as well. Skimming through it, ignoring the computer information she didn't understand. When she finished she walked over to Greg, leaning over him and comparing one of the sheet to the grid. "Can you get us here?" She asked calmly, showing him the matching area.

Greg looked up at her, trying not to look down her shirt, and raised an eyebrow. "What? Why?"

Dark, thin eyebrows pressed together as she looked at him. "That's where their base is.."

If not for his bandanna she would have seen his mouth gape in disbelief. "Then what was this?"

"Yeah!" Ollie encouraged from his seat, only to get a glare from the other members. So maybe he was fanning the flames of leader issues a bit, but it was funny.

"Let me reword that, it's their _real _base, probably where they're keeping the power source for their robots and if we're lucky then their leader would be there as well." Setting the grip paper in front of him as she backed up and starting to review the papers.

"And you're sure bout that?" Though he was questioning her he made a route for that direction anyway.

"No, but what if I'm right." This time she didn't even bother to look up from the papers.

Greg looked back at the others who either shrugged or ignored him, and then he sighed. "Aw, whatever." Faith headed to where Bobby was seated so that he could explain the computer information they had retrieved and then they could figure out if it was important or not.

(Cool Transition)

Josh shifted in his seat, growing more and more uncomfortable. They had been travelling for quite a while; it'd been silent with small talk once and a while, mostly just compliments towards skills they hadn't been aware of. Another was Greg forwarding their plans to the League to update them to the situation. Faith was seated in the co-pilot's seat at this point, still going over some information. Josh's finger's twitched, feeling as though they crossed over a trip wire that had activated something. Like something was crackling and breathing, taking in oxygen. Warmth flushed his face as he pushed back the cowl around his face. He got up and started to walk towards the back of the javelin, feeling something panicking.

Within minutes of that they arrived at their destination Greg once again broke the silence. "Here we are but there ain't nothing here…."

"Double negative," Faith snapped before standing up and looking out across the clear land, "The base is underground.."

There was a loud horse like sound and Sir Justin sprang up, worried that Josh had done something while he was back there. He made it to the door just as Josh was trying to back out the horse, a hot smell of smoke following him.

"What's going on back there!" Faith demanded as she stood up, watching Justin quickly grab at his horse's reins.

"Fire," Was Josh's simple reply to her question.

"Fire!" Was the response from the rest of the heroes.

"It appears that they found the javelin first," Josh stared, eyes darting around for some sort of fire extinguisher or something like that. "They must have planted something of a magical origin that activated when we approached their main base," He spoke quickly, trying to think of something he could do that wouldn't destroy the javelin around them.

Ollie quickly searched through his quiver, looking for an ice arrow, water arrow, anything. Then he froze, "Wait! Everyone shut up!" There was hardly a response to his order, things were happening too quickly. "I think I hear…." Frantically Oliver looked around the walls, finding a panel and ripping it off. "Beeping…"

A elaborate looking bomb glowed back at him, a thin screen blinked a countdown back at him as he backed up quickly, throat closing as he tried to say some sort of warning. More eyes locked onto the bomb and a tense air of fear crackled through the air faster than the fire. Four blinked at him. Then.

3..

2..

"Oh shi-"

* * *

**TBC**

**LadyR: **Well, that was painful to rewrite, I think my mind nearly exploded. I'm going with this Vigilante is Greg Saunders, though the other Vigilantes are pretty cool. They really need to label like, "THIS BLACK CANARY IS THE EARTH 2 VERSION!" Or something like that. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, comments always welcome.

**LadyR (From Original second chapter): **Equally painful to rewrite. Bombs are fun. :D Hope you enjoyed it, reviews extremely painful to rewrite. Bombs are fun. :D Hope you enjoyed it, reviews extremely appreciated.


	2. Soul Society Arc Part 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Justice League's ideas or characters; they belong to the various writer and artists. I also do not own any of the modern references I use. However, I do own the Soul Society members, who are based on my heroes on City Of Heroes and Champions Online; I do not own COH or CO.

**LadyR: **This is the last part of the Soul Society Arc. The next arc will be focused on Huntress and The Question. Though some of you may not like OCs (for which I apologize), they are important characters to know for their role in later arcs so just keep them in mind. At this point I also apologize for my pathetic attempts at Vigilante and Shining Knight's dialects.

This is a long chapter. I wanted to end this arc in one fell swoop, so it's long. I'll probably meld Part 1 and 2 together later. I wrote this in different parts, so I'm sorry if there are inconsistencies.

Reviews, comments, and criticisms are totally welcome. Unless the criticisms are unfounded, flaming, and don't help me at all.

THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PINNACLE OF LITERATURE.

* * *

Ollie managed to open one eye before groaning and grabbing at himself to handle the pain. Thinking back, his mind still fuzzy as he tried to remember what happened. There was a bomb and then Vigilante had forced the javelin to go straight down in the few second they had. A smart move, Ollie mused silently; get them closer to the ground so the fall wouldn't kill them. The air around was filled with smoke, dirt and there were a few fires here and there. This was along with large hunks of the javelin scattered across the land. "Oh, man," Slowly he sat up and tried to ignore the burning pain on his front. Touching tentatively at his face he felt a few burns and wetness that was probably blood. There was more annoyance than surprise in his feelings; he had been closest to the bomb. In fact, he was surprised that he wasn't dead. Considering the number it had done on the javelin he was shocked he wasn't in little pieces scattered across the land. Feeling something hard under him he picked up one of his arrows, broken of course. "This was my favorite too…" A deflated boxing glove hung from the arrow lifelessly. Running some fingers through his hair, his hat was gone and his costume was ripped to shreds. Any place that wasn't ripped was burned. "I'm going to feel this in the morning. . . Five weeks from now." Attempting to stand up he groaned again and almost doubled over, pressing a hand against the ground to steady himself. "Canary was right. I shouldn't have eaten those chili dogs the Flash likes so much." But they tasted so good.

Then he realized that he wasn't alone. "Are you alive?" Turning to the enigmatic voice he saw Josh sitting on the ground, staring at him.

Creepy magic user. Well at least he could figure out now why he wasn't in little green pieces everywhere. "Barely, you?"

The cowl was pushed back from Josh's face and he was staring rather blankly. But to Ollie's question he raised an eyebrow. "I subconsciously put up a force at the moment of the explosion." Oliver tried not to sneer in irritation; magic users thought they were all awesome with their . . . magic. "I'm not a magic user. I'm a metahuman," Josh eventually said dryly. "The one that saved you."

"That's nice," Standing up slowly, looking at him. Though he was tempted to say he didn't do a very good job of saving him. ". . . Thanks," He added after a few moments. It was always awkward saying thanks to heroes you didn't know very well. So he started to look for his bow and unbroken arrows.

Josh offered him a nod and then glanced around the perimeter. "We should look for the others, aside from Narsesis the rest are very human and could be very injured."

Oliver frowned at the thought; it was a pretty bad explosion. Hopefully Vigilante and Shining Knight were alright, and the rest of the Soul Society too. "You're right, let's go."

"I can sense Kin coming from that direction, she's panicked, and I think she's hurt." A trace of concern in his voice as he quickly ran in the direction he had motioned in.

(Cool Transition)

First all he could see was blackness, and then he realized his eyes were closed. So that was a pointless momentary panic. Greg jumped slightly when he half-consciously realized something was licking his face. The jump was followed by pain: lots of pain. Broken bones sort of pain.

"I was wondering when you would awaken," Sir Justin stated, standing over him with Winged Victory. There was the vague flicker of concern in Justin's eyes as he nervously pet Winged Victory's mane.

The aforementioned horse that Greg found was a couple threads away from his face. He'd have been more horrified by the fact a horse had been licking him, but the pulsing pain echoing through his body was a little more distracting. Through gritted teeth he managed to say, "Get that thing out of my face, you hear?"

"I recommend you do not move too much. Winged Victory was able to retrieve me before I landed, but I believe you have at least three broken ribs-"

"Four," Greg corrected as he tenderly felt his side. Then quickly at his face to see if his bandana was still on. Exhaling in relief to see it was, just a little off center. Trying to ignore the burning pain he felt as he fixed it, noticing his hat was gone.

" . . . -A various assortment of bruises, burns and 'tis obvious that you have a rather large piece of the javelin in your right leg," Sir Justin continued wryly.

Following Justin's gaze to his leg, seeing his white slacks ripped and stained with his blood. "Aw, I've lived through worse," He stated as he pulled up the white material and noticed the metal sticking out. "Well, ain't that a bitch. Always seems to be this leg too." There was a note of irritation in his voice. Why did it seem like he always got injured and ended up useless? That mission with Vixen and Shayera, when those villains got into the Watchtower, when the General mutated, when Darkseid attacked; it always seemed like he was a worthless hero.

"Hey! More of us are alive!" The two of them quickly looked in the direction of the voice. Bobby came running towards them with a slight limp and he was holding the arm from the same side he was limping on to his side. Almost all of his former electronic equipment was gone with the glimmer of metal from his electronic arm. The goggles on the top of his head were sparking and one of lenses was broken. Now, even with the bruises and torn clothing he looked very young, no more then sixteen. Sir Justin looked at him, maybe seeing his age for the first time and his eyebrows pressed together. It seems that Greg and Justin were having similar thoughts. They were just getting younger and younger. Huffing, Bobby stopped to catch his breath and he bent down against his knees. "Are you two alright? Dude cowboy you look wasted- whoa you're bleeding."

"I just said I'd live through worse, y'all shoulda seen me back in the day-" Starting to mutter as Justin carefully helped him to his feet, careful to make sure weight wasn't put on the injured leg.

Sparing Greg an irritated look before turning his attention back to Bobby and asking, "Bobby, do you know where the others are?"

"Well, Faith is back there," He motioned in the direction he had come from, "Waiting for me." Slipping his goggles over his eyes, it sparked a few times in protest before it turned on. "And…Narsesis is over west from here and seems fine; she's probably licking her injuries." That earned him a couple odd looks, "It's her species, they're a little cat-ish," Snickering at his own joke, "Ollie and Josh are approaching Kin's location so they seem alright."

"Ain't that a nifty little gadget." Greg grunted as Justin helped him onto Winged Victory. "I reckon we should grab Faith and catch up with the others. And maybe get this hunk of metal outta my leg?"

Bobby nodded and with Justin leading Winged Victory they started to walk back in the direction he had approached them from. It only took a few minutes for them to find Faith. The only thing undamaged was her outfit and she glanced at them from her position, sitting on a rock inspecting her shoulder. Raising an eyebrow at them for a moment she continued her inspection, "Are you two alright," Before waiting for an answer she looked them up and down, noticing the blood dripping from Greg's leg. "Get him down," Was her simple order as she stood up. "Bobby take off your shirt."

"What?" Bobby looked at her like she was crazy, which was a look she got often.

"Take off your shirt, you're wearing another under it anyway," Faith stated evenly, helping Justin get Greg off the horse. She gave Winged Victory an affectionate pat on the neck, she liked horses. "Ok, let's get that scrap out." Faith kneeled on the ground next to the cowboy, pushing up the cloth quickly earning a wince and a cuss. "Man up."

"Ma'am, with all due respect you try bein' manly with a piece of the javelin stickin' outta your leg." Greg made a rather high pitched noise as she gripped the piece of metal with her right hand and yanked it out, a few droplets of blood spurting onto the ground. "Holy great mother of Jesus!"

She ignored his continual cussing as she took the ripped cloth that used to be Bobby's shirt and started to wrap it around Greg's leg. "I don't think it hit anything vital, just muscle." Shifting she winced as she moved her left side, her arm not responding as she tried to use it properly.

"Well now, seems here I ain't the only one injured." Greg straightened and reached for her shoulder but she flinched. "Hey, now I ain't gonna hurt'cha." That just earned him a frown but she let him touch her, he felt around the bone of her left shoulder, ignoring the broken ribs that protested at the movement. "Don't seem to be broken, just dislocated. Hold on still now pretty lady," The frown deepened and he grinned, not that she could see it. Putting a hand on her waist and he used the other to push her shoulder back in place with a loud snap. Lady Nether simply bit on her lip to keep from swearing, her eyes squeezed shut.

Bobby winced at the sound and scratched at his mechanical arms seeming to get bashful without a sleeve over it. Faith stood up, and stretched a bit, wincing at the still tender muscles. She'd have to remember to be careful with it. "Thanks."

By reflex he moved to tip his hat, and sadly realized that it wasn't there.

Either noticing his expression or simply amused at the southern grumbling she smiled at him as Justin helped him up. "Bobby, did you find the location of the others?"

With a hesitant smile at her Bobby took one last glance around and nodded. "Yep!"

"Good," Faith rubbed his dirty blonde hair in a move of affection and looked to the others with the leader look back on her face. "Okay, you guys have communicators right? Check if they work but I'm guessing they won't."

On his feet but still favoring his uninjured leg, hoping the blood would stop. "Vigilante to Watchtower." There was static from his communicator but no voice. Greg's eyes narrowed and he frowned deeply, "Watchtower please respond."

They noticed his expression; Shining Knight tried his communicator but also got no response. Faith just sighed, "I was afraid of that. Our communicators were jammed too."

Bobby slipped on the goggles again, "There's a large amount of energy radiating from underground. That's probably what's blocking us."

"Ok, I think I have a plan, let's go after the others."

(Cool Transition)

"They're coming." Josh stated, wrapping his lower cloak around Kin tightly as he glanced in a different direction.

Ollie blinked in alarm, it wasn't really his fault that he took what Josh said the wrong way. The man's tone was unreadable and to be frank a little frightening at times. "What? Who?"

Josh looked at Ollie long and hard, finally just sighing at him. "The others on our team?" The indifferent voice was edged with worry over his teammate. Soon the rest of the group, having found the relatively uninjured Narsesis had quickly went to get the other three heroes.

Faith reacted first, her eyes widening when she spotted Josh keeping part of his cloak around Kin. "Kin! What happened?" Pushing Ollie aside as she kneeled to the ground and moved the cloak aside.

"I'm fine," Kin snapped, trying to nudge away the hands prodding at her. "Just-" Faith halted when she saw the blood staining through the robes. "Had a little accident."

"It was a piece of the javelin, I believe it lodged itself into her ribs but she's bleeding heavily." Faith frowned as Josh spoke, checking out the injuries herself.

"She will need a healer quickly," Justin stated seriously.

"Alright, just give me a second to think." Faith's mind went whirling as she looked from one person to another, trying to think of a good course of action. One of her teammates was severely injured, they were all suffering minor pain and the cowboy would be slow on any attack vector. They had damaged equipment; unresponsive transmitters, no means of location and a winged horse- wait a second. They had a winged horse. "Ok, alright," Retying the cloak that Josh had used to bind the wound. "Sir Justin, how many can your horse carry?"

"Two adult men if you wish him to fly. Another would more than likely be too heavy."

"Alright, we'll send Vigilante and Kin back out to get reinforcements. Can you handle it Kin?"

"Of course," Kin winced as she moved. "I'm not about to let a little injury like this stop me."

"Hold up! Hold on just a doggone minute," Vigilante said holding up his hands in protest. This was too much; he was done being the injured man: he was going to help get this mission done if it killed him. "I ain't that injured. I can still move and I still got my guns. I ain't about to go running like some sissy."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Kin growled at him, obviously assuming that was some sort of statement against her.

"What about us?" Green Arrow asked, ignoring Vigilante's outburst.

"While they call for reinforcements -if they'll give us any- we try to finish the mission." They stared at her like she was crazy again.

"No offense Lady Nether but none of us are in any condition to fight."

Greg was beginning to feel ignored, again. "Y'all listening to me? I'm staying here to fight with the rest of y'all!" They stared at him with raised eyebrows and Josh rubbed his face as though he was tired.

"We get it, we get it. You can stay. Kin and the horse will move faster without the added weight anyhow." Greg seemed appeased and he dismounted from Winged Victory, trying to act like it didn't hurt when he got onto the ground. The make-shift bandage around his leg was stained with blood, but it didn't seem to be bleeding freshly as much anymore.

"Lady, we're not going to be able to get very far the way we are."

"Do we have a choice? I'm relatively sure that they know our javelin went down and will come to investigate. So we can stay here like sitting ducks or we can complete our mission." There was a long silence as they considered their options and her statement set in. "Vigilante, can you walk?"

"Not fast. But I'm up for a challenge." Putting some weight on his leg, it hurt but he wasn't about to let that slow him down. Besides, to hell if he was going to lose face in front of ladies.

"Good," With Josh's assistance they helped Kin to her feet.

"Do I not get a say in this. After all, Winged Victory is _my_ steed," Justin asked as he crossed his arms.

Faith just sighed at him, "Shining Knight, would you please allow Kin to use your horse?"

Put off more by the indifferent yet polite voice, it was a tone that said even if he said no she was still going to do it. Justin sighed and walked to his horse murmuring things as he stroked the white hide. "He will behave; just try not to bleed on him too much."

"Yes, because I can control my blood rate by sheer force of will," Kin responded with sarcasm dripping off of her lips. She winced as they continued to move her, helping her get onto Winged Victory. "Is he going to buck me off?"

"Not unless you do something that displeases him."

"That's reassuring," Kin managed to say before Justin lightly smacked his horse's hide and Winged Victory took off into the sky. Faith's eyes lingered in the air for a minute before taking a silent breath and turning to the others.

"Shall we get going?"

They quickly nodded as they got a move on. Some of them had found some of their fallen equipment; Green Arrow had found his bow and a few undamaged arrows at least. They could only hope this would work out.

(Cool Transition)

Bobby's fingers moved quickly against the access panel. In a few moments it flashed 'access granted' and metal doors slide open. Letting them in first as he pulled in hastily behind, he was the one that wasn't good in a fight without his equipment. Thinking back he wished that he had gone with Kin. She probably could have used the help and he was light. But this group needed the hacking skills so here he was.

It was too silent. There were no guards in the hall, and it was just . . . quiet. Someone needed to say something to fill the silence so Green Arrow sighed, "So, what's the plan?"

"We need to find the power source for those robots. And whatever's blocking out communicators. Maybe the head honcho if we're lucky." The halls were getting wider as they went further down the hallway. "Jeeze, this hall just seems to go on and on-" With that half statement there was a click and the walls around them started to rise and marching could be heard. Their eyes widened in surprise at the horde of robots marching towards them. The glowing core was even brighter than the ones before.

"Go!" Green Arrow yelled as energy beams were rapidly shot at them from all directions. The robots quickly charged at them, luckily they weren't very fast. Green Arrow shot first. Took out two at a time but he realized he had to be careful. It's not like he had tons of arrows to spare like usual. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sir Justin roll across the ground and swing his sword through the air and robots. Shots were going off, other noises he wasn't entirely familiar with. There was the sound of metal slicing through metal. Sharp sounds of energy blasts going through the air. He had to remember that those sounds were the enemy's and that he needed to avoid those. That thought was reinforced when he moved to the side and one of the blasts barely nicked him, leaving a small burn on his arm. The robots weren't particularly tough; he noticed as he saw how many were going down. But the more that went down the more took their place. Just how many of these things were there, he asked himself as he shot another arrow watching the electricity short circuit the robot. Green Arrow felt the pain before he saw the robot. An energy blast connected with his side and it smashed him into another one of the robots. Hoping that had at least taken out the robot he hit. When his vision cleared he saw that what had attacked him was one of the robots. He also wasn't lucky enough as the robot he fell into stepped on him. The robot that shot him was just like the rest. Except it was much bigger and instead of arms it simply had two blasters. Those were fired at Ollie again. He moved in time that he was only hit by one.

"Must be an upgrade," Was Bobby's comment upon looking at the rather larger robot that seemed to be making rather threatening movements towards them. Faith wrapped her nether whip around the larger robot's leg and yanked, causing it to fall back and crush onto one of the smaller ones. More simply took its place. One's head went down as Sir Justine leapt through the air and sliced through it, flipping off from it and digging the blade into another's core. Sparks went off and the glowing ceased, Sir Justin continued slicing through the robots that were fast surrounding Green Arrow.

One of the upgraded robot's fist rose above Ollie's head, then it was surrounded by black energy and Faith yanked it hard enough to cause it to at least stumble away from the hero. While it was distracted Ollie grabbed one of his arrows and quickly aimed, releasing it straight into the robot's core. The energy containment orb cracked and the lights in its eyes started to flicker. Before it powered down the commander robot interlocked its fingers before smashing its fist onto the floor. "Scatter!" Green Arrow yelled as the floors cracked and started to give way. The green clad hero swiftly stepped away from the growing larger hole, backing into more of the robots. Taking out one of his arrows and crashing it into the core that sparked magic and electricity before he kicked the robot away and knocked the arrow onto his bow.

A yelp escaped from Faith's mouth as her boots slide across the crumbling floor way, the smell of oil came from underneath but before she could think about what was under the hallway they were on she headed down there back first. The commander robot powered down and plummeted to the bottom, she didn't hear a crash. Oliver released the arrow into another robot's core before promptly reaching for any arrow that could help her but lesser robots quickly swarmed around him blocking his aim.

"Hold on darlin'!" Greg called as he swung the lasso in the air and threw it around the falling super heroine. Holding on harder as the rope tightened around her waist and her fall halted abruptly. The added weight caused Greg to stumble and then he incidentally put too much weight on his injured leg. Wincing in pain as he felt fresh blood drip down his leg and it wouldn't support him anymore, falling forward on his face before he started sliding across the floor towards the hole. "Damnation, damnation, _damnation_!" Barely off the edge when he finally got a grip on the ledge. That's when he got a look down the hole; it was a long way down. It seems that the levels underneath the one they were on were strictly for construction of the robots. He didn't have time to think about how many robots were down there, right now all he had to worry about was letting himself or Faith drop down a few stories.

"Shit," Faith cursed as she glanced up at the one thing saving her from a squashed death. Noticing that he wouldn't hold on for much longer and the others were busy with the army of robots, on the other side of the big hole. Faith tried not to look down as she attempted to find something that would help her get onto the closest level and fast. The lasso was getting progressively tighter around her waist and it was starting to hurt. In fact her breath was coming in short gasps. She prayed that Greg would be able to hold her weight a little longer as she started to swing towards the ledge of the nearest level.

"Can you hurry that up?" Greg yelled, feeling the ledge started to give way under his weight. "Don't got much time here!" He looked towards the other leaguers who were perfectly busy with their own battles: Ollie smashed his bow into one of the robot's core, Justin was slicing through the circle of robots around him, and Narsesis was keeping close to Bobby and making sure that none of the robots could get to him. There would be no help from them now.

After a few swings she could touch the ledge, her fingers slipped off but the next swing she grasped it, hearing Greg swear as the ledge above her continued to crumble. Climbing up onto it with the lasso still tight around her waist, more robots were approaching the cowboy behind her. "Jump!"

"Did you just go doggone crazy!"

"Vigilante! JUMP!"

Glancing over his shoulders at the robots coming at him, there was no better plan. Leaping off the crumbling ledge as it gave way. "Vig!" He heard Sir Justin yell out. Faith held on tight, the lasso still tied around her waist as she stood her ground and held onto the wall. The rope tensed as Greg's fall stopped and she nearly tripped forward. Cowboy was heavier then he looked.

Justin took a second to glance over the end, seeing that both teammates were alright for the moment he ducked from an energy beam and sliced through two more of the robots. "Have at thee!" Back to back with Oliver after a moment, "We must get them up."

"No!" Faith shouted, pulling Greg up onto the ledge. "It'll take too long; you have to go find whatever's blocking our communicators! We'll try and find the power source!"

"That's crazy!" Green Arrow called down, ducking and causing a robot to fall down the hole. Narsesis backed up to him, slicing through some of the robots coming at them.

"We do not have a choice Arrow, Sir Justin we are going to have to fight through them to get to the sources."

Understanding her train of thought, "Come then!" They both yelled as they charged and started clearing a path for the other heroes. Metal parts sliced from robots were going everywhere. Heads, arms, everything and Green Arrow raised an eyebrow. Unsure if he should be impressed or scared. Instead he nudged Bobby and they swiftly followed through the path they were creating.

(Cool Transition)

Helping Greg to his feet Faith looked around the landing they were on, "Where do you think we should go?"

"Woulda been nice if the telepath were down here too."

Faith sighed, wanting to agree but she had to think about what direction they would go in. Then she noticed the fresh blood. "We have to re-bandage that. Sit back down." At this point he didn't even both to argue and sat down on the ground. "Wish I could cauterize this somehow," Faith muttered as she unwrapped the already bloody cloth.

Greg whistled, "Boy, I'm kinda glad you can't." Looking at his leg he sighed, this was starting to get old real fast.

"Something wrong cowboy?" She glanced at him as she pulled nether energy from the ground, deciding to use that instead of ripping more of his clothes. She'd just have to remember to focus on it from then on.

"Naw," The cowboy watched her movements with some suspicion as she started to wrap the nether energy around his leg. It was cold and made his skin tingle. As it hardened he realized her costume was made out of the same material. That must be why it never seemed to stay ripped very long.

"Hey, I need all my soldiers at their best. Are you hurt somewhere else?" He figured she was military; she acted like all the heroes that used to be in some sort of army. So he just looked at her silently. "It's not a shame to be injured Vigilante. Heroes get hurt all the time." The anger he had shown when she suggested he leave with Kin had not gone unnoticed for her. Though she didn't know the man very well she knew something was bothering him about the situation.

"Pft, easy to say when you got them fancy powers of yours." Unable to help the wince and shiver that emerged when cold started to creep into his injury.

"I saw the news report of when that General attacked Metropolis. You saved a little boy and crashed your motorcycle into the General when the odds were strongly against you. Seems to me you pull off heroic pretty well without 'them fancy powers'." To further enhance her point she paused in her work of bandaging to look at him.

Vigilante raised an eyebrow at her, "Ma'am, you flirting with me?" The statement was more to change the subject then act as a legitimate question.

"You've been off ever since you got hurt." Though she didn't answer his question and he had to grin at that. That just made things interesting. "Let the energy numb your leg, it's still injured but you won't feel it as much now." Trying to wipe the blood from her hands, at least there wasn't much fresh blood. "We've got a job to do now." Standing up straight and offering him her hand. "And thanks for saving me."

"My pleasure pretty lady." Taking her hand and getting up, the leg didn't hurt as much anymore. The numbing seemed to work but it still felt funny when he tried to put weight on it. With that they walked down the oddly empty hallway, but the sounds of battle were still loud from the level above them.

(Cool Transition)

It felt like it took hours to fight through the crowd of robots. Eventually the hallway they were going down was clear in front of them. "Get behind me," Josh commanded calmly, when they were behind him he clapped his hands and the ceiling in front of him collapsed. It crushed some of the robots coming after them. But more helpfully it slowed their advance.

The hall was getting shorter, which probably meant that it was meant for people and not the robots. They opened door after door, looking for some sort of control room. This went on until there was an explosion from behind them and they assumed that meant the robots had broken through the temporary blockade. Bobby slipped the broken, sparking goggles back on and looked for the energy source. There was one a few floors down but there was also one a hallway over. "Come on," He shouted as he took to running and headed in that direction.

The others ran after him, soon shots were being fired at them and they had to watch their backs. Twisting around Green Arrow fired another arrow at the crowd of robots, ice spreading out across the floors. Not pausing long enough to see if it worked but he did hear metal slipping and crashing so hopefully that bought them a few minutes. He could see the irritation in Sir Justin's eyes. "Why do we run from the battle!"

Oliver responded by pushing the knight sharply, "Because." Was the ever logical answer that Green Arrow gave him. "Now move!"

Finally Bobby came to a stop and started to hack into the access panel. The others skidded to a stop and turned, ready to fight back the wave. In seconds the doors slid open and the heroes poured in. The room itself was filled with wall length computers showing different areas. One screen they recognized as the base they had first gone to. The doors slid back closed and they watched Bobby override the system, preventing it from opening. Though he doubted that would be their problem. He went to the controls and the rest stayed by the door, watching it shudder under the sudden beating it was getting from the other side.

After a few stressful seconds the door collapsed. With a warrior's cry Shining Knight lunged towards the advancing robots first.

(Cool Transition)

The two heroes halted as they entered the large room. There were rows upon rows of inactivated robots. All of them were hooked up to tubes and seemed to be ready for action. Every few seconds one of those rows would start to glow and move and then march down an entrance at the end of the room. There was another door to the left but then Vigilante paused when he saw a human dressed in mechanical armor behind the robots. There were tubes with red energy flowing through them in the rows of robots in construction. "Who dares approach the new god Calvin?" The two exchanged looks. It looked like they found their enemy, only people in charge referred to themselves as gods in this sort of situation.

"He looks like he's twenty," Lady Nether stated in disbelief. "_He's_ behind all of this?"

Vigilante moved first and shoved Lady Nether with him to the ground as a much larger energy blast melted a few of the inactivated robots. "Keep on your toes now!"

The man, Calvin, made sounds that were probably what he thought were war cries and blasting energy beams as he did so. Soon more of the robots were beginning to activate and targeting the two. This was a problem they realized as they took down the closest robots and ducking in time to avoid the next energy blast. Faith scowled, ducked low and swerved between robots. The heroine headed straight for the boss, not seeing him as much of a threat.

"For the love of-" Shooting another robot in the core and then aiming a few at Calvin to distract him. It worked for a second but then Calvin whirled around suddenly and fired both blasters at her. Bringing up the nether energy took most of the blast, but she was blown back to the far wall with a few of the robots in tow. She inhaled sharply as one of the robots crushed onto her right arm. There was the familiar snap of bones and she fought a whimper as she scraped her arm out from under the metal. Nether energy surrounded her feet as she roughly kicked through one of the robots that towered over her. Slipping through and joining Vigilante behind some of the fallen robots acting as a shield from Calvin's blasts.

"Look Lady Nether, we got ourselves a problem here. The way I see it, we got one shot. I can't move fast so you're gonna have to get on outta here and find the others. Or find some way to shut down these varmints, if we don't . . . We ain't gonna make it out."

"I don't leave people behind," Faith growled lowly, using one of the fallen robots as an obstacle and pushing hair out of her face. Vigilante shot another robot in the core, its body adding to their barricade.

"Ma'am!" Another burst of energy exploded across the robots they were hiding behind. In a movement of panic they moved behind more, Faith using a wall of nether energy to push aside active robots and use as a defense against the energy blasts. "We don't got much a choice!"

"You worms will all fall beneath my power," Was screamed as a large blast of energy crashed against the nether energy. It caused Faith to wince slightly; she didn't have nearly enough strength to keep this up. Nevertheless hold up a nether wall with one hand. A bead of sweat trailed down her neck.

"I can handle myself! Now get! I'll cover!" He watched her eyes dart to the door she would have to run to and then back to him. They needed at least one of them to get out of there alive, and if they could shut down the power then . . .

Faith seemed to realize all of it but she looked sickened with herself as she nodded to him. "Alright," Lowering her hand as she prepared to take off and release the barrier. "I'll have to let this go, be ready to move."

"One thing," Greg grabbed her arm before she went off away from enemy fire. Life or death situations, a man's got to do what a man's got to do. Not like he had anything to lose anyway. "I know this is a bad time and all, but we get outta this alive, want to have dinner?"

It was surreal. Faith stared at him, dumbfounded. Something deep down found this hilarious. A cowboy was asking her out when they had a snowball's chance in hell to get out of there alive. In fact, energy beams were being fired above her head and cracking her nether energy at that very moment. This was not a good time for a superhero's version of an office romance. Oh, the hell with it. Yanking him closer by his jacket she kissed him through his bandana. Well, she thought she did, it was hard to tell with that fabric. Then let go, ducking under an energy beam as she sprinted for the door, "Only if you ditch the bandana!"

"Yeehaw," He whistled as the nether wall fell and he half-ran half limped to another barricade of robots before quickly shooting off in the direction of their enemies, giving her some cover. In seconds the black blur of a woman dove through the door and went to get help. "Come on you ugly varmints!" As bullets went off; more robots fell.

Calvin didn't even seem to notice the escaping heroine. Either he didn't care or was too distracted by the cowboy shooting at him. "Foolish worm! You are no match for the power I command!"

"You jabber too much!"

The leader blasted away the bullets shot at him with relative ease. "I am a god. You are simply a worm beneath me. I have put my faith in magic and it has rewarded me with godhood! Where is _your_ faith worm? For soon you will be meeting your fake gods!"

Continuing to move from barricade to barricade, quickly shooting down activated robots and attempting to avoid the energy blasts from Calvin. "You call me a worm one more time!" Shooting one of the activated robots and causing it to explode near the self-named god.

(Cool Transition)

"We're not going to be able to keep this up much longer!" Oliver shouted over the sounds of battle. He was out of arrows and had to rely on his own fighter abilities and his bow as a weapon.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Bobby cried out as he typed in as many overrides as he could think of. All of them were getting the response of 'Access Denied'. If only his goddamn equipment wasn't damaged he would have hacked in. An unattached robot head smashed into the controls next to him. "Watch it!" Once again being denied action he quickly decided he would simply have to reboot the system. Pulling a cord out of his arm he plugged it into one of the jacks. There was a jolt in his body as he rebooted the system. The lights around them flickered and the screen went black for a few moments before it restarted. Finally he could get in. Half a robot fell down behind him, the other half being kicked aside by Sir Justin.

After entering in some new codes there was static then, "Watchtower." A sudden flicker of light next to Bobby made him flinch. The others were too busy fighting off the robots to help Bobby now; his fingers froze on the controls. Mr. Terrific was speaking hurriedly to him, but he couldn't respond. He was too afraid as he stared at the energy beam forming around the robot's arm that was pointed straight at his face.

(Cool Transition)

"Your bones will be the first to crumble underneath my power!" Calvin called as he closed his fists and released another burst of energy at where Vigilante was hiding.

Rolling forward quickly, letting the man destroy his own robots. "No way I'm dying now! I finally got a date with someone and it ain't Shining Knight for once!" Landing right back on his uninjured knee he let off shots at Calvin, ducking back behind a robot as he reloaded. Not seeing the robot from behind that smashed its arm across Vigilante's head. Barely managing a grunt as he tried to roll over, tasting fresh blood in his mouth, when he did roll onto his back he let out clean bullets into the robot's core.

(Cool Transition)

Passing by room after room, using her nether energy to try and find the largest amount of magic. One room had impressive security on the door and her energy twitched in response to it. "That must be it," Using up a majority of the rest of her nether energy she charged at the door, crashing through it. The broken arm protested but at this point it didn't matter if there was any more pain. Her feet halted of their own accord as Faith saw the wire filled room. That wasn't what shocked her. The thing that shocked her was the young boy floating in a vat of water with tubes hooked up to him, constantly pumping magical essence through those tubes. The sick realization hit her stomach and she had to fight not to throw up. This child was the power source.

Faith pressed her hand to the glass, looking at the young child floating in water with tubes hooked up to him. Energy was behind sucked from his very body. It was inhumane, it was disgusting. It was something she wouldn't allow any longer. Going over to the control panel she looked at all the buttons. Unfortunately she didn't have any of Bobby's technological graces so she just wrapped her fist in nether energy and smashed it into the controls. It explodes and sparked as the water began to empty from the tank and the tubes of red energy halted. She used the same fist to crack open the tank, releasing the energy before pulling the boy out of it.

(Cool Transition)

The energy beam about to fire at him powered down. The robot that almost killed him beeped, the glowing core faded and it crashed to the ground. It was then that Bobby allowed air to enter his lungs and he pressed a button to respond to Mr. Terrific. "Our- . . . Our coordinates are . . ."

Oliver glanced at the teenager that was now giving the League their position, helping the blue alien up. "We survived," It was more proud then surprised. Just wait till he told Black Canary about this. Maybe she'd shut up about the entire gang she took down the other day. He'd just fought off an army of magic robots with a very small amount of arrows.

Sir Justin wiped off his brow, sweat dripping down his face. Yanking his sword out of a fallen robot and then sheathing it. "Vigilante and Lady Nether must have shut down the power source." A few strands of blonde hair fell from underneath his helmet. "This was a heroic battle indeed."

(Cool Transition)

Robots powered down around them. The tubes that had once been bumping red energy ran dry. Vigilante had to move before one fell on him and he exhaled, all the adrenaline was beginning to wear off now that he knew someone had reached the power source. Finally it would be over and he cracked his neck as he stood up fully and faced Calvin.

"No," Calvin whispered as he looked at his hands, the energy that once powered the gauntlets faded away. "No!" An expression of realization crossed his face. As if he was suddenly aware of how badly he had just lost -and the pain that would follow- "I AM A GOD! WORMS LIKE YOU CANNOT STOP ME!"

Vigilante wiped at his bandana covered mouth. "Y'all asked me where's my faith? Well, my Faith just shut down your little magic thing." Though he was remotely horrified with the play of words that came out as though the Flash had possessed him; he was also somewhat proud of the fact he had come up with that so quickly considering he was sure he had a concussion. Despite the pain he limped to the now whimpering man. "Oh and one more thing son," Vigilante raised a fist and punched Calvin right in the face, causing the man to go flying into the mass of fallen robots. "Ain't a goddamn worm."

(Cool Transition)

Smoke breathed up from the once base. They were all trying to support each other as they exited the building. An air of victory and relief was palpable in the air. One moment they were looking out at the nearly barren landscape, and then they were staring at the blue and red clad superhero. "Can we talk?" Faith mentally winced, hoping he wouldn't tell her she took it too far. Making sure Sir Justin could support Vigilante and letting Narsesis take the boy she had been carrying before she walked after the infamous Superman.

"Look," She was fully prepared to tell him they wouldn't be joining the League. Even if she had liked the Leaguer she had the honor of working with. It would probably be for the best and she couldn't- her vision blurred slightly as she faltered. She was almost out of energy, hopefully she got some rest soon or she wouldn't be able to keep the energy that was her clothes. A strong hand rested on her shoulder to steady her and she looked hesitantly at Superman.

"Good job," Superman told her. "You solved a lot more problems than we thought existed."

She blinked in surprise, not expecting that. Instantly she said: "My teammate, Miss. Yang. Is she alright?" Faith held her arm tight to her side, ignoring the throbbing pain from the broken bones.

"Yes," He gave what he thought was his textbook farm boy smile. "It took us a while to get an exact fix on your location, there was-"

"Interference, I know."

"But she's at the Watchtower receiving medical assistance."

"Good, then-" Before she could finish the sentence Superman offered out his other hand, a communicator in it.

"I was hoping you'd have made your decision. We could really use you and your team; you'd all make a great asset. You've more than proved yourself a valued leader and dedicated hero."

"You sound surprised," Faith mused, glancing at her teammates and the leaguers. "We've been in Maine so long; we hadn't fought anything outside it since the last invasion. I didn't realize it was getting so bad." Reaching out she took the communicator from Superman, staring at it for a long moment. This would be a big change for them. But if they could do more good then . . . "I-"

"You can talk to me back on the Watchtower," With that he nodded towards her and then a red blue blur when off towards the smoking factory/base. Standing by as J'onn transported some reinforcements down, along with medics. At these point they were mostly for clean-up, make sure there was no one else hiding away or in need of assistance. Faith recognized Steel, and The Atom, both were mechanically savvy so they would probably be there to check out the robots and their designs. Zatanna was there too, checking out the magic side of the robotic designs she'd assume. And there was . . . B'Wana Beast. Faith had absolutely no idea why he would be there.

"Growl, I heard there were new members." He growled at her, staring a little too low from her face for her liking. There was a gross smell in the air, she assumed it was him.

"Hey, B'Wana Beast! Go howl at the moon or somethin', I got dibs on that one-yowtch, y'all watch that leg!" B'Wana Beast shrugged, growled at her again and pinched her behind before leaping off after Zatanna. Resisting the urge to slap him with nether energy before she walked over to the medic surrounded Vigilante.

"Howdy." Mocking an angry face, here was the other reason she might join the League. She was pathetic. Josh seemed to agree as he gave her a 'you're making my brain hurt' look. "Dibs, huh?"

Both eyebrows wiggled playfully, "Now pretty lady, I do believe me you owe me a date." Greg winced as they got his leg up onto the gurney. "Though maybe when I'm in better condition."

Grinning at him, "I can say the same. That was quite the-" An eerie purple glow appeared from behind, Faith turned in time to see the giant ankh appear. "Fate," She greeted as a tired smile spread across her face and she patted Greg's gloved hand before following Doctor Fate away from the others. Shaking her head at the mystic and setting the uninjured hand on her hip, "I should have known. The League wouldn't have trusted us without your interference."

"I always look out for my own Isleen," Doctor Fate replied evenly as he settled onto the ground. "Something is wrong with the magic continuum. Something is going to happen. They will need all they can get in the League."

"That boy, they were draining him of his magic," Faith looked off to the medics preparing the others for transportation. Greg was trying to wave off the medic that was desperate to bandage his ribs. The boy was on another, unconscious and set up to an oxygen tank. "To fuel robots. Robots! They were going to create an army from his life-force!" She spat the words out like they tasted bad.

"He is the equivalent of a magical battery. I will offer him a place to stay when he has recovered."

"Still picking up lost little kittens, huh Fate," A sad smile crossed her face as she said that. "You think joining the League will be good for the Society?"

"That is not my decision to make, Isleen. But everyone will be needed."

She refused to take his bait. She doubted he would even answer her question anyhow. "Fate, it's-"

"Faith, I know. Or Lady Nether if you prefer." Faith could have sworn he was grinning at her from behind that helm. "You've picked up a cowboy I see."

Glancing at Greg who raised an eyebrow at her, sighing Faith returned her attention to Doctor Fate. "More like he picked me up. He's nice. A little thick-headed and slaughters the English language, but he's nice." She watched as most of her group got transported up to the Watchtower. "The League doesn't seem so bad; they've got good people on their side." Fate just watched her silently, maybe testing her, maybe simply letting her speak. Not turning away from Doctor Fate she took a few steps backwards, the remaining staff behind her with the rest left down there. Taking a short breath Faith pressed the new communicator in her ear.

"So you've made your decision?"

She just smiled at him. "This is Lady Nether to Watchtower, we're ready for pickup."

* * *

**Next on Justice League Unlimited: Teacher's Pet**

**"Now, now, now, it's not polite to aim crossbows at people Huntress. Or should I say Miss. Bertinelli? Some problems you can't shoot away." **

**LadyR:** Before you complain about the Vigilante/OC and the 'that was too fast for a relationship to form'. I would like to point out the Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor thing, and then the Supergirl and Brainiac 5 thing. Huntress and Question were pretty quick too but he probably watched her secretly for months before so . ..

The invasion she refers to is the Darkseid one. The Fate scene was added really quickly last minute to explain the scene from the first part. B'Wana Beast will remain my ongoing joke (anyone that has the balls to hit on Zatanna knowing she could simply say 'mih retuen' deserves something) appearing at random times to harass heroines.

And I want to do something with Black Canary and Green Arrow, but I have no idea what. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews always welcome.


	3. Teacher's pet Arc Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Justice League's ideas or characters; they belong to the various writer and artists. I also do not own any of the modern references I use. However, I do own the Soul Society members, who are based on my heroes on City Of Heroes and Champions Online; I do not own COH or CO. **

**TCoJLU: **2nd Arc: Teacher's Pet

**Rating:** Teen due to strong language and sexual implications. (Rating may change because implications may become less subtle, maybe in this chapter.)

**Genres:** Romance/Drama, but also adventure, angst and humor.

**Couples:** Vixen/Green Lantern/Hawkgirl, Catwoman/Batman/Wonder Woman, Huntress/Question, Superman/Lois Lane, Black Canary/Green Arrow, Fire/Flash/Linda Parker, Martian Manhunter/Shuang, Vigilante/Lady Nether (OC). To a lesser extent and only occasionally mentioned Elongated Man/Sue, Speedy/Donna Troy, Hourman/Jesse Quick, Starman/Sadie, Doctor Fate/Inza.

**LadyR: **This is the first part of Teacher's Pet, the first Huntress/Question arc. So, I clearly forgot about this for a while. Life gets busy as most of you know. But then I found it in my folder of word documents and decided to pick it back up... Of course I completely forgot where I was going with the story. But it's alllll good. If the writing seems weird, I don't know, it was going crazy when I was editing it making it hard for me to see where there were mistakes... So I gave up. R&R, do what you like, just don't be unfounded.

THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A PINNACLE OF LITERATURE.

The rain poured down around her, soaking her costumes and matting down her hair. It wasn't the first time she'd been caught in the rain. The difference was that she was fighting off a group of drug dealing scumbags. It didn't help that she also had papers to grade. Crappy papers about the importance of the sun. That and she also had to fly back to Gotham tomorrow before school started on Monday. Ugh, she hated taking the plane. Too many people in too tight a space. In fact, she liked driving more. Maybe fighting thugs in the rain wasn't so bad Huntress mused to herself as she pinned one of them to the wall with a bolt. At least it was almost Labor Day. Falling forward onto her hands she smashed her feet into another's face.

"Ugh, I got mud on my hands," Was her complaint as one of them came up behind her and she broke his nose with her elbow. Ducking to the ground as another swung a lead pipe at her head. More mud splashed onto her skin. The lead pipe clung against the concrete as she stepped to the side and grabbed his arm. Bringing up her knee and she heard a satisfying crack as she snapped his arm. The last took one look at her and took off sprinting down the street. Huntress just sighed and lifted up her crossbow. There was a twang as the bolt was released and pinned the man to the brick wall by the collar of his shirt.

Huntress stood around for a few moments before she heard the nice, timely sirens approaching. Someone must have heard the fighting and called the police; otherwise she would have tied them up and left them to be found later. Giving the one that attacked her with a pipe a kick for good measure before slipping off into the shadows. It wasn't often that she found herself in Hub City. Not that she minded she was just so busy with her own work that she rarely delved into her boyfriend's, unless he told her to that is. Recently she'd just wanted to spend some time with him. Which involved fast food, a few bad movies and tangents about why Almond Joys are in blue packages. It was late and there weren't many people around at this time so she could relax a little bit. She picked up her gym bag from the ally and unzipped it, taking a quick glance around before pulling off her mask and yanking out the long trench coat. The coat was a temporary comfort from the chilling rain and it hid her costume from prying eyes. The rain was progressively getting harder as she got colder, so she walked even faster with the bag hanging from her hands. Shifting the bag to one hand she opened the door to the apartment building and stepped inside, free from the rain. Her heels clicked as she walked across the floor and she stared at the sign on the elevator. 'Out of Order'. Unable to help the growl of frustration as she stared at the staircase and realized she would have to climb it. "Was is this? Hate Helena day?" The man she considered her lover was a paranoid conspiracy theorist that occasionally forgot to eat, sleep, bath and more importantly: call his girlfriend. He also lived on the top floor, something about electrical circuits in the lower floors that caused a false positive feelings due to a specific endorphin release whenever someone turns on the lights and then people paid at least two hundred more to their electrical companies something blah blah blah. Then Helena had pointed out that it was ridiculous that it would only apply to the lower floors and not the top ones. To which The Question had replied that '_that_ was the question', though she found out later that he restarted his investigation. She wondered what had come of that investigation as she plotted up the stairs. It wasn't as physically straining as much as it was irritating and a waste of time. Besides, attempting this in heels was a real job for Superman. But he could fly. Screw Superman.

After minutes of climbing, her feet hurt and she was grumpy. Glaring at the door as though it was the cause of all her troubles before digging around in the bag for her key-chain, she pulled it out and flipped through the keys before finding the one to Vic's apartment. Instead of sticking the key into the lock she stuck it in the peephole at the top of the door. The key went in without any resistance and she heard the various locks unlock. Vic had once told her any attempt to unlock the door differently would activate certain defenses he had installed though she'd never seen them first hand. Not that she wanted to either. Stepping in with a sigh and shutting the door behind her, pressing a button that relocked everything. "Hey baby doll," She greeted as she pulled off the wet boots and set them by the aglet-less shoes. There was a significant lack of a welcoming but she was use to it. She could hear the faint sound of typing coming from his room, which also served as his office when he didn't feel like being in his living room. She could see why. He must be on another conspiracy kick because there were papers all over his couch and floor. Unclasping her cape and slinging it across a paperless chair along with her bag. Water dripped off of her limbs and hair as she headed into his bedroom. She shivered realizing how hard his air conditioning was working.

Well, she was correct. Vic was in his costume and typing furiously at his computer. "A fight?" He didn't even bother to turn to her.

Helena plopped down on his unmade bed and started to unlatch her belt and pull off her gloves. "Drug dealers. It was raining pretty hard, I'm all wet." Hoping to somehow get his attention, apparently the thought of his girlfriend wet didn't cut it. He just continued to type at his computer. "I was hoping to take a shower. There's room for two." She still got no response just the clicking of his keyboard.

"Watch the towels on the floor." Click, click, click, click, click.

"You don't want to join me in the shower?" Click, click, click, click. So not even the offer of getting naked with her in the shower was breaking his concentration about whatever stupid thing he was working on now. Was he even listening to her? "Q," Click, click, click, click, click. "Q." Her voice came out firmer this time and more irritated. Click, click, click, click, click, click. "Vic!"

Without pausing at his work Vic glanced over at her, or at least she thought he was. You could never really tell with his stupid, creepy mask. "I'm working Helena. This is important." The monotonous clicking continued and Helena flushed from exasperation. No, The Question was not ignoring her. _Her_, The Huntress, the one gorgeous creature in his life that would actually sleep with him. She was relatively sure she saw a pig pop up on his screen.

"I'm leaving you for Gorilla Grod."

Click, click, click, click, click, click.

"I've been having mad passionate sex with Green Arrow."

Click, click, click, click, click, click.

"Last night I had a foursome with B'Wana Beast, Flash and Booster Gold. On _your _bed."

"I put your shampoo under the sink." Click, click, click, click, click, click.

Fine, she had other means of getting his attention. Pulling at her costume, peeling off the wet purple and black fabric and letting it fall onto the floor. If Vic heard, or was even aware of what she was doing he didn't show it. The Huntress had a long day of shooting bolts at people and Helena wanted sex and a shower. And if she had anything to say about it she would have both at the same time. They were some of the few stress-relieving activities that weren't dangerous towards her health and hell if he wasn't going to get naked. In three short strides she was sitting on the edge of Vic's desk in all her underwear glory, the clicking continued.

Click, click, click, click, click . . . click . . . . . . click . . . . . . . . click. . . . . . . . . . . . . click.

Vic stared at her silently. In a surge of pride she was pretty sure she saw his fingers twitch. Sighing sadly she lifted a leg up, resting her foot against the wood and giving him a very nice look at her lean legs. Her sexy female legs made fit by kicking people in the face. "_Helena_," He started, his voice getting low. "That's. Not. Fair."

"I don't play fair, baby doll." Helena purred, moving her foot from the desk to her boyfriend's leg. A perfectly innocent expression on her face as she ran her toes across his thigh and did extremely not innocent things. With a grumble he grabbed her heel and was probably glaring at her from behind that faceless mask. "I'm wet and cold," She started as she slide from the desk to his lap. "And I would like to take a shower, preferably with you." Loosening his tie as she spoke and she felt his fingers in her hair.

"I'm working," Though it didn't sound as firm as before.

"Babe," She glanced over her shoulder at his computer, "There's a picture of a chili-dog on your screen."

"I'm studying the hormones and chemicals that are in chili-dogs. And why so many of the male heroes in the League are addicted to them. Then I have to research the sudden rise of magical incidents-"

"And I have a pile of papers about the sun to grade but I think we both have time to take a shower." Digging around in his coat's pocket for the can of aerosol to get his mask off, "I need someone to scrub my back."

A soft defeated sigh escaped from his lips. "I find myself at your mercy." She just smiled coyly at him as she got the can and sprayed it in his face. Pitch black hair turned bright red and she pulled off his mask, running her fingers across his unshaven face. Man, he had been working.

"Well, hi there handsome." He moved to kiss her but before he could she sprung from his lap and pulled him by his tie to his bathroom. Though she ignored the mumbling.

(Cool Transition)

Damp towels dripped water onto the carpet and bed. The covers had been tossed and forgotten against the wall. Vic absentmindedly played with the black tangles of hair spread across his now wet pillows. Everything smelled like his cheap soap. A part of him was concerned with how much Helena was distracting him from his work, mediocre or otherwise. The rest of him wanted to squash that part into a little pile of dust. For once he was . . . happy? Maybe. He wasn't even sure anymore. Happiness can easily be confused with any emotion that involves any endorphin release. And that could just be from the electrical currents that went off when she turned on the lights.

"You're doing it again."

Drawn back into reality he looked towards the chocolate eyes, unreadable yet an open book. "Hm?"

"You're thinking." It was stated with a raised eyebrow. "Sometimes I miss the guys that after just roll over and go to sleep." Helena snorted as she leaned off the bed and yanked the covers back into their proper place. The ever hard working air conditioner was making the previously warm, steamy skin cold again.

"You'd get disgusted and bored with those men. I keep you wondering."

"At least they'd phone me once and a while."

All he did was chuckle softly. Using one arm to pull her closer to him. "When do you have to head back?" It seemed she was still cold, maybe he should just turn the damned air-conditioner off. But that would involve leaving the bed.

"Tomorrow morning at the latest," Shifting her gaze from his face to a scar on his chest she decided to poke. "Stupid sun papers." Why did she assign it if she was dreading grading it so much.

"You know, interactive methods that involve using the-"

"Don't tell me how to do my job. Or I'll smother you."

"Yes, dear." Saying it with just enough indulgence to get her glaring at him, but not so much that she'd smack him. Then a red light started flashing from his computer and he was out of bed, didn't even bother putting on clothes. Any clothes. Whatsoever.

Hearing Helena sit up from behind, he could feel her watching him with what was probably confusion and annoyance. "What is it?"

At first silence, a few movements with his mouse and then a typing. The light from the computer reflected in his eyes, studying the windows and door closely. Looking for movement of any type before answering. "Someone tried getting into your apartment." But why? Thief? Something worse? That was the-

"WHAT?" There was a thump as she got out of bed, the dragging of fabric against the carpet following her."The hell?" Warmth leaned against him as she looked over his shoulder at the computer. It seemed the thought of a robber was anger inspiring enough that she didn't question he had bugged her apartment and installed cameras across the vicinity.

"**But you didn't have to cut me out, make out like it never happened and that we were nothing**."

Both heroes turned from the computer screen to the door. It was a ring-tone, Helena must have left her phone in the other room. Either it was a contact he hadn't heard call her before, or she had changed her general ring-tone. Helena pushed off him and grabbed his shirt from the floor, yanking in on in the same movement of walking out the doorway.

"**And I don't even need your love but you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough**."

It wasn't even the original song that he'd heard on the radio. Must be a cover. Why was the song even popular? It was hard to hear, and some of the words blurred together. He'd need to write that down later for investigation. Turning back to the screen, checking the several cameras. Making sure the invader wasn't still on the premises. There was a broken window. A frown twitched onto his face, there wasn't a sign of anyone. Inside cameras read everything was clear.

"**No, you didn't have to stoop so low. Have your friends c**-"

"Hello? Miss. Mendez?"

Julie Mendez, a middle-aged woman that lived next door to Helena. Her second cousin was a gangster, but nothing that would make her a danger. If she had been Vic would have investigated it earlier.

(Cool Transition)

"Helena? It's Julie Mendez. I think someone tried to break into your place." The accent was subtle, not so strong she couldn't understand what she was saying.

Helena's eyes narrowed and she frowned before asking. "Oh, no, are they still there?" Putting on her civilian worried voice instead of the Huntress' 'I'm gonna cut a bitch' tone.

"I don't know. I was going to call the police when I heard a crash but I think they ran off. Probably just some punks."

"No, don't call the police." She'd find them herself. The police would take away her evidence. Stupid kids trying to rob her, one of her alarms probably went off and made them piss themselves. "I should probably head back now." She'd hang them from a building, like Batman did, except she might drop them.

"I know it's late and you're out of town, but I thought you should know now."

"No, I'm glad you did. Thanks, I'll head back, and make sure to come over when I get there. Lock your doors in case they come back. And if you do call the police." Though they probably wouldn't be back. She'd have to go hunt them. "Bye." Snapping her phone closed and glaring at it. Of all the rotten luck.

"What happened?"

Sighing and rubbing her face briskly. "Some kids tried to break in. They broke a window before running off." Checking the time on her phone. Almost midnight. "I should head back now, if you don't mind driving me to the airport. Make sure Miss. Mendez is alright." Scowling deeply, "Make sure the window's the only damage." Setting her phone back onto the table before walking by him to get her clothes. "And then find those punks and remove their ability to have children."

"It's fine. . ." He was watching her. Probably wanted to scold her or something. Or say 'don't kill them' or anything like that. "Want me to come?"

Honest to god surprise stopped her and she looked over her shoulder at him. "You're offering to come to Gotham with me because teenagers tried to break in?" Raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "Did you see something on the cameras?" To warrant concern like that.

Vic just frowned at her, his arms crossed against his chest. At least he was wearing pants now. Shaking his head before sitting back at his desk, closing all his programs.. "No, just the broken window. But it could be something more."

Oh, he was just being suspicious. She was almost worried for a moment they'd gotten in. "So don't be so pa-. . ." Yeah, she wasn't going to ask the Question to not be paranoid. "So protective. The Huntress can handle per-pubescent teenagers."

The response was typing at his computer. So she didn't say anything more. It didn't take her very long to get her stuff back together, get dressed in some clean clothes. Vic had taken even less time. Just put on some clothes and slipped on his shoes. The ride to the airport was normal for them, a few off-topic comments from her with whatever reply he felt was necessary. At one point she started humming Somebody That I Used To Know that the phone put in her head. Tapping the tune against her knee.

"Sure you don't want me to come? I can go park the car," Vic asked when he stopped the car, glancing over at her as blankly as ever.

"No, it's fine, I'll call you when I get there." Leaning over him and kissing him on the cheek. "Make sure you actually eat food. Chili-dogs aren't that important."

(Cool Transition)

During the couple hour flight she'd slept. It was some rest that would keep her going for a while if the trail was fresh enough that she could go after the kids. Otherwise she'd just board the window and sleep some more. Parking the car and glancing out the window. Nothing abnormal yet. Though maybe she'd look for Q's cameras that he had decided not to tell her about. Though she wasn't very surprised and in this situation she was almost grateful.

About to leave her car before she noted a man standing in the alleyway, suspiciously close to where her windows were. Unzipping the bag with her costume. Maybe she wouldn't need to go hunting after all. Smirking at the thought.

(Cool Transition)

"Alright, hands where I can see them." The crossbow up and pointed at the stranger who was holding something in his hand.

Heels echoed between the buildings as she stepped closer. Whatever was in his head looked like something tech-y. And there was a gun strapped to his thigh. Definitely not someone she wanted hanging around her apartment. "If it isn't the mighty Huntress." He turned and smiled brightly at her.

". . ." Just keeping the crossbow level.

"Now, now, now, it's not polite to aim crossbows at people Huntress. Or should I say Miss. Bertinelli? Some problems you can't shoot away." It was a mocking sentence, filled with superiority and she was tempted to just release the bolt right there. "Put it down." Tossing the thing to her feet. An action that made her jump back in case it was something else. But closer inspection told her it was just a high-tech camera. "Your boyfriend's not going to be able to help you know."

"Who the hell are you?" Unable to ignore the threat. But she still wasn't about to put down her crossbow. The smart ass was tempted to point out the flaw where it involved Q. The moment something was wrong he'd know.

"I'm the man you're going to listen to unless you want something to happen to those brats you teach."

**TBC**

**A/N: I kept rewriting the end of this chapter. I was never quite happy with how it was turning out. So at the moment I'm satisfied but not overjoyed. I'm just thinking Daughters of Darkness is a perfect song for Huntress. Hmmm... Oh, and I love Somebody That I Used To Know, but I can picture Question mocking and questioning all popular music. Reviews always appreciated. **


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